jer7440 Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 I hadn't really been able to find a cad model like this of a carved lp top so I made my own. I started with a dxf template I found on mimf. I belive it was originaly drawn by John Catto. Due to file conversion issues the entire downloaded file was made up of tiny little line segments. These tiny lines make it almost impossible to do good surfacing, so I redrew the template over top of the original using true arcs and lines. With a good clean outline I started doing the surfaces. I tried to use what I had learned from Setchs build, things like the neck angle and pickup plane. As far as the curves are concerned, I just had to wing it and go with what looked good to me. Here are a couple of screen shots from my cad system. I know it is not exact but what do you think? http://img62.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img62ℑ=lptopiso.jpg First time I have ever hosted or posted images hope this works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 That is a sexy LP, like if a LP went thru plastic surgery for augmenting the curves!! I like it! A little more top on the waist but it looks good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer7440 Posted October 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 Hey, Thanks for the comments! The software I used to draw this guitar was Mastercam. It is a cad/cam software I use at work. I am hoping in the near future to use this model to machine that top in a cnc mill. As far as learning to do it, thats kind of hard to say. I took a 1 week class to learn this software about 6 yrs ago. Out of that 1 wk class about 3 hrs were spent on creating 3d geometry and surfaces. Thats how I learned the basics, but most of what I do at work is only 2d. So I just kept going hit and miss with different techniques until I got something I liked. What program have you been using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badasstommyboy Posted October 9, 2004 Report Share Posted October 9, 2004 for some reason that guitar reminds me of jessica rabbit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer7440 Posted October 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 I'll take that as a compliment! She was pretty hot... I mean...ah... ya know for a cartoon rabbit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badasstommyboy Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 I'll take that as a compliment! She was pretty hot... I mean...ah... ya know for a cartoon rabbit. lol its the one thing we all think but never admit. Yes it was a compliment and yes she was hot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer7440 Posted December 24, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2004 Well I said I hoped to cut a prototype by x-mas and here it is x-mas eve and The mill is carving the top as I type. No in progress pics though, I still don't have a digital camera . I will post some pics as soon as I get someone to loan me theirs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marzocchi705 Posted December 24, 2004 Report Share Posted December 24, 2004 Maby youl get a digi cam tomoro. I'm looking forward to seeing this beuty already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer7440 Posted January 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Well I finally got to borrow a digital camera so here where I am at: lp1 And here are some more links lp2 lp3 Here is the machine I cut it on: CNC machine My prototype was made up of pieces of MDF I glued together, but I went out yesterday and bought a sweet 1 piece mahogny blank for the body and enough mahogany to make 2 necks. Here is a pic of the body blank: body blank This blank came off a board that was about 1 9/16 thick 14 1/2" wide and about 10' long. I would have loved to buy the whole thing, but budget dictates. I know the pic suck but I couldn't get the flash to work on the borrowed camera. I will figure it out tonight and get some better pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Hehehe...you should finish the MDF body up with a plywood neck, just to see how it sounds...good work so far! It is hard to see how much relief you have on the carve (relief=height change from center to edge); is it similar to a regular LP? On the real deal I would not do the knobs like that (tops parallel to the original top plane); make the knob tops parallel to the carve if you want it to be true to the original. The neck pocket looks very deep...the whole body looks thick to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdguitars Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 holy freakin $#it. is this your garage or a shop you work at? I imagine a shop, but what a machine. Remember I want my LP top done so please let me know, I can even be your test subject if need be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer7440 Posted January 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Hehehe...you should finish the MDF body up with a plywood neck, just to see how it sounds...good work so far! It is hard to see how much relief you have on the carve (relief=height change from center to edge); is it similar to a regular LP? On the real deal I would not do the knobs like that (tops parallel to the original top plane); make the knob tops parallel to the carve if you want it to be true to the original. The neck pocket looks very deep...the whole body looks thick to me. I plan to finish the mdf body, but I am going to use real wood for the neck, primarily for strength. The top is 3/4 thick and the deepest part of the carve is 1/2 deep. I'm not sure how to photograph the thing to make that show up better. Carve wise my design is more extreme than the the real LP, but I wasn't going for and exact copy. I kind of like the knob recesses. The main body of the guitar is 1 1/2 and the top is 3/4" at the max giving me an overall of 2 1/4 which I think is standard. holy freakin $#it. is this your garage or a shop you work at? I imagine a shop, but what a machine. Remember I want my LP top done so please let me know, I can even be your test subject if need be That machine is in the shop of the family buisness. That thing is pretty sweet to use. As far as doing your lp top, the cad I created is not standard. It is my own variation on the theme. I hope to be doing my real wood soon, so i'll let you know how that comes out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizard_King Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 How about those Eastons in the first picture? What's the plan for those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xebryusguitars Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 whoaaa that machines huge. did you eat that month your family got that machine? geez. by the way, things are looking great, keep it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer7440 Posted January 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 The Eastons, well the plan is to refletch them and then go kill bambi. Well, next deer season anyway. Yeah that machine is pretty big. The table travel are 40"x20"x20" x,y, and z. Easily long enough to do my neck, that's next. If you look at the pic of the mahogony body blank, on the left side of the table saw is the neck blank I laminated out of mdf. Just another prototype. Mdf is nice and cheap to practice on. I don't feel too bad if I screw it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer7440 Posted January 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 I finally got some better pics Man do I suck at photography Any way check it out I think these show the carve of the top a little better. guitar top1 guitar top2 And here is one with my neck blank that I just haven't had time to cut yet with neck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdguitars Posted January 20, 2005 Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 sweet!!!! let me know when you want a customer!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsilver Posted January 22, 2005 Report Share Posted January 22, 2005 That's sweet! I want one. The CNC machine that is. Having just carved two tops by hand, I can't really express how much that CNC machine, along with your CAD work, would have simplified my life, not to mention the eliminating the carpal tunnel syndrome. Nice work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer7440 Posted January 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2005 Thanks BigD and Johnsilver, I hope to try cutting some real wood soon. My biggest concern is tear out. I just don't know how a highley figured piece of maple will respond to the 3D surface process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsilver Posted January 22, 2005 Report Share Posted January 22, 2005 I just don't know how a highley figured piece of maple will respond to the 3D surface process. ← That's how PRS does it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer7440 Posted January 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2005 I just don't know how a highley figured piece of maple will respond to the 3D surface process. ← That's how PRS does it. ← Then I should be golden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asm Posted January 22, 2005 Report Share Posted January 22, 2005 (edited) DAYUM. nice. is that a Fadal? is that top Ren? how much did that cost, never seen it in a sheet that thick. nice work with the paths, did the roundover bit cut that smooth or did you finish by hand? edit: oh, ive got MasterCAM and Solidworks 2003 on my comp. got it with the mouseclick discount took me FOREVER to find masterCAM. when you see how much it cost then you wonder why you cant find it. Edited January 22, 2005 by asm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer7440 Posted January 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 Asm- Actually that is a Haas VF-3. The material is MDF, probably not an ideal tone wood but good enough for my prototype ( I didn't want to blow $50 on mahogany until I knew what to expect). In these pics that has been lightly sanded with 150 or 180 grit paper. When it is finally sanded to my liking it's off to some people I know for a TOP SECRET experimental finish. Yeah I have a legal copy of Mastercam for work, so that works out nicely. But solidworks sure does look interesting.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer7440 Posted April 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2005 Finally, I scored a piece of nice quilt to call my own. Gotta love durawoods on ebay. Check it out. My quilt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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